A couple of years ago I played around with a way to evaluate offenses and defenses because I think both total yardage and points scored, while valuable stats, don't tell the whole picture.

I decided that the best way to evaluate offenses is by points per possession. In 2010 I only did the ratings once in the middle of the season, but this year I am going to try and update rankings for offense and defense ever week.

I made a couple of tweaks to my formula. The basic formula is points per possession except:

1. I presume a made XP after each TD.2. I've made turnovers punitive by counting them as two possessions.3. I count all FG attempts under 50 yards as made FGs.4. I don't count FGs or FG attempts over 50 yards as scores or failed possessions.

The last thing I do is multiply the result by (1000/7). If a team were to score a TD on every single possession, a perfect rating would be 1000.

Great work Peyton and I'll say and accurate representation of the NFL offenses. I'm a little surprised to see the Bucs that high considering that it's not been until their last 3 games that they've really done good offensively.

Great work Peyton and I'll say and accurate representation of the NFL offenses. I'm a little surprised to see the Bucs that high considering that it's not been until their last 3 games that they've really done good offensively.

I was a little bit surprised at that too. But you look at it, and they only have two less offensive TDs than Atlanta, and they are taking care of the ball equally as well with only 7 turnovers.

And.....they are actually 9th in points per game......so this stat actually sets them back one spot.

What is the average starting field position? Would be nice to find a way to tie that in. Also teams that have a big lead late in games are punished for just running safe plays and running the clock out. I like the premise though.

The one team that benefits the most from my calculation as compared to any other measure is the Steelers. Right now they are 10th in yards and 13th in points per game, but my system has them rated 4th.

The reason is that the Steelers are first in the league in 3rd down percentage, and they are putting together many long time consuming drives, and as a result, the number of possessions in the Steelers game are dramatically lower than for most of the other teams. They've had 4 games with 9 possessions, when most teams get 11 or 12 possessions per game.

I suspect we are going to see a similar effect when I put together the defensive rankings. Their defense is 9th in points and 2nd in yards allowed, but I don't think they are going to do as well in my model.

What is the average starting field position? Would be nice to find a way to tie that in. Also teams that have a big lead late in games are punished for just running safe plays and running the clock out. I like the premise though.

They wouldn't be punished unless they punt or give up the ball on downs though. My calculation doesn't take into account possessions that just end because the clock runs out.

They wouldn't be punished unless they punt or give up the ball on downs though. My calculation doesn't take into account possessions that just end because the clock runs out.

I am looking at a way to maybe work in starting field position.

Maybe take the inverse of average starting field position, (i.e. 30 yard line, so 70 yards to go). Take the yards "to go", to the end zone and multiply as a percentage. So a team that averages 3.5 points per possession, but has an average starting field position of their own 40, would get (3.5 * 0.60) = 2.1.

On second thought, that might give too much weight to starting field position. Maybe only give it half the weight. (i.e. Average the "yards to go" with "100" before multiplying with points/possession.)

Good stuff. You've done Bleacher Report articles in the past, right? You should put this up there, way better quality than what usually is up there, in fact this tops much of what the "professional" media puts out, it deserves to be seen by many.

Good stuff. You've done Bleacher Report articles in the past, right? You should put this up there, way better quality than what usually is up there, in fact this tops much of what the "professional" media puts out, it deserves to be seen by many.

Yes, I have, although I haven't written anything in a while. I might do that.